In a deal announced at Mipcom, international production and distribution company Rooftop Film has teamed with Amsterdam-based producers Totem Media and green-themed media company PRØHBTD to co-produce a new food and travel docuseries with a THC twist titled “High Cuisine.” Lending culinary credence to the series’ kitchens, the idea for the show was developed by […]

A federal judge’s verdict this coming week on whether AT&T can acquire Time Warner will shape a much broader drama: a radical reordering of the entertainment business—driven by Netflix—that’s reaching every corner of Hollywood.WSJ.com: US Business

Former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke was temporarily blocked from tweeting for violating Twitter’s terms of service with three posts that advocated violence against the media. Twitter had no comment, but CNN reported that Clarke had been suspended until he deleted the tweets. In one, Clarke wrote, “When LYING LIB MEDIA makes up MAKE NEWS to […]

Over the weekend, the Teen Mom 2lovebirds both shared a steamy photo of themselves locking lips on social media.

“King and Queen,” Marroquin wrote alongside the picture on Sunday, which featured the couple wearing color-coordinated outfits and kissing in front of a brick wall.

And on Saturday, DeJesus shared two other photos in addition to the snap, including one of Marroquin standing behind her with his arms around her waist. Letting the pictures speak for themselves, she captioned them with just a heart emoji.

In October, Marroquin told PEOPLE that he and DeJesus had “decided to make it official” after Teen Mom 2 reunited them for a reunion taping in Los Angeles.

“We are dating,” Marroquin said. “We’ve been friends for a while and we weren’t in a rush.”

The reality stars both have children from separate relationships. DeJesus, 23, has two daughters: 6-year-old daughter Nova with ex-boyfriend Devoin Austin, and 3-month-old daughter Stella with ex-boyfriend Luis Hernandez.

Marroquin shares 3-year-old son Lincoln with ex-wife Kailyn Lowry, who also stars on Teen Mom 2. He has a close relationship with his former-stepson, Isaac, from Lowry’s previous relationship with Jo Rivera.

Since making things official, the two have frequentlyposted about each other on social media, with Marroquin flying to Florida with Lincoln and his former stepson, Isaac (from Lowry’s previous relationship to Jo Rivera), to spend time with DeJesus, her daughters and her sister Brittney at a water park.

But even though Marroquin is dating his ex-wife’s costar, it seems everything is fine between him and Lowry.

In an Instagram post in mid-October, Marroquin shared a sweet post of himself kissing his ex on the cheek. “Despite everything that happened between us I’m happy we are at a place where we can go to events..have a good time and be civil,” he wrote. “We’re doing a pretty good job raising these kids @kaillowry #oneteam.”

There’s still drama between Marroquin’s ex-wife and his new girlfriend, however.

Two weeks ago, during part two of the Teen Mom 2 reunion, DeJesus said she didn’t think she and Lowry could ever be friends. “It’s not going to happen,” she said. “We tried today and it’s not working out.”

Indochino, the Vancouver-based made-to-measure men’s brand, has a new partner.
The company has created what it is calling “a strategic partnership” with Postmedia, a Canadian media company representing more than 200 newspaper brands across Canada.
Under the terms of the deal, Postmedia has committed to invest more than 40 million Canadian dollars of media money in the brand over the next five years.
Postmedia will help Indochino grow its market share in Canada by promoting the company through print, digital and native advertising to its 13.4 million monthly unique digital visitors and 8.3 million weekly print readers in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and other emerging markets in Canada where Indochino has less of presence.
“We’re proud to be symbiotically aligned with Canada’s largest newspaper company, which provides credible sources of news via its digital and print network to two in three adults,” said Drew Green, Indochino’s chief executive officer.
“As part of our 2016-2020 plan, we’ve boldly sought out strategic alliances to help us achieve our business goals and this mutually beneficial partnership will no doubt have a profound impact on our growth in Canada.”
Green said the deal will serve to boost the brand’s marketing activities while lowering one of its largest expenses.
“Both sides have

There’s a famous section of sociologist Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 bestseller, “Outliers,” which maintains that those with natural ability and skill for a subject can become masters if they have the time to devote to a craft, particularly if no one is looking because they’re all concentrating on other, more mainstream, facets of that industry. Abrams […]

The Federal Communications Commission is planning to make sweeping changes to media-ownership rules next month, eliminating or scaling back longstanding limits on local ownership of TV stations and newspapers, its chairman said Wednesday.WSJ.com: US Business

Three months before its release, Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” easily topped social media buzz last week with 78,000 new conversations, according to media-measurement firm comScore and its PreAct service. The activity was spurred by the studio releasing new set images on Aug. 28 and a feature interview with Mark Hamill two days later…. Read more »

On Tuesday, Aug. 16, 1977, Rose Phillips was one of the first people in Memphis to learn firsthand of Elvis Presley’s death. On that day, she had gone to a late lunch with her friend Arlene Cogan, who was former president of the Chicago Elvis Presley Fan Club and a regular visitor at Graceland, at… Read more »

The turnout of white nationalists that sparked violence in Charlottesville, Va., this weekend reflects an alarming level of cooperation among disparate hate groups to gain mainstream media attention. That’s the view of an expert at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Montgomery, Ala.-based civil rights org that has tracked the activities of white supremacist groups… Read more »

Google is developing technology to let publishers create visual-oriented media content along the lines of Snapchat’s “Discover,” upping the ante in a race among tech giants to dominate news dissemination on smartphones.WSJ.com: US Business

Google is developing technology to let publishers create visual-oriented media content along the lines of Snapchat’s “Discover,” upping the ante in a race among tech giants to dominate news dissemination on smartphones.WSJ.com: WSJD

Kim Zolciak-Biermann is fighting back after someone reported that she was not taking care of her pets.

The Don’t Be Tardy star, 39, shared a series of videos on Snapchat explaining her story while focusing on a business card of an employee of the Lifeline Animal Project at Fulton County Animal Services.

“Apparently somebody thought it would be really cute to call the animal control center on my dogs today and say that they were not being taken care of,” she said. “I am utterly f—ing disgusted and appalled by the person that did this.”

Zolciak-Biermann continued by saying that her dogs are treated very well, pointing out that she recently spent $ 3,000 to take care of rescue puppies.

Due to the incident, the reality star said she would “no longer be sharing any part of my dogs and their life on my social media any longer.”

Reps for Zolciak-Biermann did not respond to a request for comment. The Lifeline Animal Project employee who visited her home could not be reached.

Earlier in the weekend, Zolciak-Biermann shared a video of her daughters bathing a puppy named Sage and another of her daughter playing with their dog Sinn (short for Sinatra).

“Kroy and I felt it was super important to continue to encourage Kash to be around animals,” she wrote in a May 28 Instagram post. “Kash is an absolute animal lover and I didnt/don’t want him to fear animals after all he has been through.”

She even shared a photo of Kash snuggling with a tame and tiny rescue puppy over the weekend, captioning the sweet photo: “How @kashbiermann has been spending the last 2 days!! extremely thankful @cheftraceybloom opened my eyes to rescuing puppies/dogs. Also thankful for the advice @iheartmiko gave me about reintroducing Kash to dogs sooner then later!!”

AT&T plans to separate its telecom operations from its media assets after clinching a takeover of Time Warner. It also will keep CEO Randall Stephenson atop the company with two lieutenants.WSJ.com: WSJD

Upon hearing the news from London, Grande reacted by sending prayers to those affected. Others, such as Liam Gallagher, Fifth Harmony, Luke Evans and more also responded with love and hopeful messages.

These days, there’s nothing quite like sharing a photo and message on social media to show your mom how much you care about her, especially on Mother’s Day.

Some of the industry’s biggest stars did just that on Sunday to celebrate and honor their mothers.

Model sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, along with singer Tinashe, shared cute throwback photos, while stars like Alicia Keys, Jessica Chastain and opted for more current pics. “Will & Grace” star Debra Messing also paid tribute to her mom, who died in 2014, with a touching caption.

“Her big easy laugh, her huge heart, she taught me how to be a mother. I have a hole in my heart and I miss you terribly. Especially today. I love you Mom. Forever. #HappyMothersDay ❤️”

TV station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said Monday it is acquiring Tribune Media Co. for $ 3.9 billion, combining two of the nation’s biggest operators of local television stations.WSJ.com: US Business

The dam broke at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday night. With 90 minutes to go to the strike deadline, the WGA and major studios began to find their way to the compromises that had been elusive during the previous five days of contract negotiations. By 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, after a break for caucusing, the sides… Read more »

NEW YORK — Mistaking the 100-plus-person line outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday morning as one for museumgoers, a few out-of-towners found themselves out of luck, after a security guard explained the museum was closed to the public but open for a press preview.
More than 600 media types — an all-time high — turned out for the big reveal of The Costume Institute’s “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: The Art of the In-Between.” Patrick Li, Eugene Tong, Cecilia Dean, Simon Doonan and Thom Browne filed through the futuristic design, while photographers and camera crews huddled around curator in charge Andrew Bolton.
Testimony to Kawakubo’s reputation of being a designer’s designer, Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director of Valentino, was among the first to take in the exhibit. After peering into one of the circular spheres to check out five designs from the fall 2016 “18th Century Punk” collection, he said, “It’s amazing. I have to say, I love her work. I am really impressed to see all of this beauty together.
“My impression [of the show] is not to have a sense of time. Everything can be yesterday, today and tomorrow. I like this idea of no time in fashion. This [show] is

Following news of Chuck Berry’s death on Saturday, plenty of fellow musicians shared touching tributes to the rock ‘n’ roll legend on social media. Among them being The Rolling Stones, who considered Berry a huge influence on their own music.

“The Rolling Stones are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Chuck Berry,” the band wrote in a statement on Facebook. “He was a true pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll and a massive influence on us. Chuck was not only a brilliant guitarist, singer and performer, but most importantly, he was a master craftsman as a songwriter. His songs will live forever.”

The band’s lead singer, Mick Jagger, also shared a tribute of his own, writing, “I want to thank him for all the inspirational music he gave to us. He lit up our teenage years, and blew life into our dreams of being musicians and performers.”

He concluded: “Chuck, you were amazing, and your music is engraved inside us forever.”

Celebrities including Gisele Bündchen, Katy Perry, and Priyanka Chopra took to social media to support International Women’s Day and the Day Without a Woman.Allure
Organic skin-care expert Angela Jia Kim shares her top skin-care tricks for getting a better clean while washing your face.AllureMillionaireMatch.com – the best dating site for sexy, successful singles!

GOING COCO: The venue on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré for this season’s Americans in Paris showroom was of appropriate significance — Gabrielle Chanel was a former resident of the first-floor apartment.
Nine designers participated in the 12th round of the showcase, backed by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue. All were newcomers to the event this season.
“This is Coco Chanel’s old apartment, it’s just amazing,” enthused Beckett Fogg, one half of design duo Area.
The brand has seen a lot of excitement this week over its accessories after both Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid were spotted wearing its jewelry out and about in Paris. “The accessories have been really popular with the celebs,” said codesigner Piotrek Panszczyk. “It’s really been helping, as people have been recognizing them as they are walking through. It’s been a great opportunity for us.”
Laurence Chandler, one half of men’s “elevated skate” label Rochambeau, said the brand was also benefiting from showing during women’s collections in Paris, he said, and had dressed influencers such as Georgia Fowler and Jourdan Dunn for the occasion. “It’s been cool to dress women, we like the idea of women wearing our clothing,” he said.
Rochambeau’s eye-catching plaid coat with a splash

Emerging social media and so-called Web 2.0 technologies will continue to have a great impact on the practice and application of the emergency management function in every public safety sector. Disasters 2.0: The Application of Social Media Systems for Modern Emergency Management prepares emergency managers and first responders to successfully apply social media principles in the operations, logistics, planning, finance, and administrative aspects of any given disaster. Using real-life examples of domestic and international disasters, the book reveals how social media has quickly become a powerful tool for both providing emergency instruction to the public in real time and allowing responding agencies to communicate among themselves in crisis. A definitive and comprehensive source, the book explores topics such as: Social media basics Citizen journalism Strategic implementation Safety and responsibility Monitoring and analytics Operational implementation Geolocation systems Crowdsourcing Public notification Mobile and other emerging technologies Each chapter begins with a list of objectives and includes a collection of case examples of social media use in past events. Practitioner profiles show real people implementing the technology for real solutions. Demonstrating how to effectively apply social media technology to the next crisis, this is a must-read book for those charged with disaster management and response.

Scholars from an extensive range of academic disciplines have focused on Islam in cyberspace and the media, but there are few historical studies that have outlined how Muslim ‘ulama’ have discussed and debated the introduction and impact of these new media. Muslims and the New Media explores how the introduction of the latest information and communication technologies are mirroring changes and developments within society, as well as the Middle East’s relationship to the West. Examining how reformist and conservative Muslim ‘ulama’ have discussed the printing press, photography, the broadcasting media (radio and television), the cinema, the telephone and the Internet, case studies provide a contextual background to the historical, social and cultural situations that have influenced theological discussions; focusing on how the ‘ulama’ have debated the ‘usefulness’ or ‘dangers’ of the information and communication media. By including both historical and contemporary examples, this book exposes historical trajectories as well as different (and often contested) positions in the Islamic debate about the new media.

As the oldest members of the baby boomer generation head into their retirement years, this demographic shift is having a substantial influence on uses of mass media, as well as the images portrayed in these media. Mass Media, An Aging Population, and the Baby Boomers provides a comprehensive examination of the relationship between media and aging issues, addressing mass media theory and practice as it relates to older Americans. Reviewing current research on communication and gerontology, authors Michael Hilt and Jeremy Lipschultz focus on aging baby boomers and their experiences with television, radio, print media, entertainment, advertising and public relations, along with the Internet and new media. They draw from studies about health and sexuality to understand views of aging, and present a view of older people as important players in the political process. Hilt and Lipschultz conclude the volume by addressing trends and making predictions related to baby boomers and mass media. Providing a timely and insightful examination of the linkage between mass media and aging issues, this volume will prove a valuable resource for scholars and students in media and gerontology. It is intended for use in coursework addressing such topics as mass communication and society, media and aging, media and public opinion, sociology, and social gerontology.

Technology revolutionised the ways that music was produced in the twentieth century. As that century drew to a close and a new century begins a new revolution in roles is underway. The separate categories of composer, performer, distributor and listener are being challenged, while the sounds of the world itself become available for musical use. All kinds of sounds are now brought into the remit of composition, enabling the music of others to be sampled (or plundered), including that of unwitting musicians from nonwestern cultures. This sound world may appear contradictory stimulating and invigorating as well as exploitative and destructive. This book addresses some of the issues now posed by the brave new world of music produced with technology.

Competitive Strategy for Media Firms introduces the concepts and analytical frameworks of strategic and brand management, and illustrates how they can be adapted according to the characteristics of distinct media products. Working from the premise that all media firms must strategize in response to the continuing evolution of new media, author Sylvia M. Chan-Olmsted offers applications of common business approaches to the products and components of the electronic media industry, and provides empirical examinations of broadcast, multichannel media, enhanced television, broadband communications, and global media conglomerate markets. This insightful and timely volume provides a thorough review of current concepts and industry practices, and serves as an essential primer for the application of business models in media contexts. As a realistic and integrated approach to media industry studies, this volume has much to offer researchers, scholars, and graduate students in media economics and management, and will be an important reference for industry practitioners.

Relativity Media has laid off roughly a half dozen employees, Variety has learned. They are primarily administrative and lower-level staffers, some of whom are involved in financial operations, according to two individuals with knowledge of the situation. Staff was notified that the cuts were happening this week. The studio has roughly 30 staffers on its payroll…. Read more »

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Focusing on the merging and converging of electronic media and the need for branding of media at all levels, this highly readable book offers complete coverage of advertising sales for radio, television and cable, plus the new and emerging mass communication technologies, primarily those generated by the Internet. Selling Electronic Media is enhanced with review highlights and discussion points and illustrated throughout with visuals used by media outlets to market commercials and their audience reach. Students pursuing sales and marketing careers in electronic media and professionals wishing to reinforce their understanding of the merging and converging media environment will find what they need in the pages of this book. Written by an expert with over 20 years of consulting experienceComprehensive treatment of the sales processEqually useful to students and professionals

Picking a streaming-media player to watch Netflix and Amazon on your TV may seem like a simple process in comparing features and prices, but it’s actually rather difficult. Some companies, like Amazon and Apple, run their own digital video stores, produce shows and sell streaming-media hardware, which can push them to restrict content in ways that might make economic sense for them, but will probably annoy you, the paying customer.

Research also found viewing sexual content can lead to erotic dreams, but not as oftenhealthfinder.gov Daily News
SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN!-http://www.acrx.org -As millions of Americans strive to deal with the economic downturn,loss of jobs,foreclosures,high cost of gas,and the rising cost of prescription drug cost. Charles Myrick ,the President of American Consultants Rx, announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project which consist of millions of free discount prescription cards being donated to thousands of not for profits,hospitals,schools,churches,etc. in an effort to assist the uninsured,under insured,and seniors deal with the high cost of prescription drugs.-American Consultants Rx -Pharmacy Discount Network News-
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Twitter said it would let users block notifications of tweets that include specific words, the latest step by social-media companies struggling with how to address complaints about misinformation and hate speech on their sites.WSJ.com: US Business

A yuge thank you to CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC and all the dishonest media for giving me billions of dollars worth of free airtime to broadcast my Trump for President campaign. It was really nice of you to repeat my name so much (“repetition builds reputation,” as we marketers like to say).

This airtime was made even more valuable precisely because you played along with my plan and kept talking only about the crazy things I was saying without demanding my tax returns or offering voters any detailed analysis of my ties to Russia, debts to foreign countries, massive conflicts of interest, or how my policies would make things so much worse for 99% of the population.

Thanks, too, for not dwelling on what Mike Pence actually thinks of women and the gays. (People would have really freaked out!)

All this media coverage of how ridiculously unacceptable I was only reinforced my reputation as a “truth-teller” with my target audience, which I define as people who view “expertise,” “qualifications” and “minorities” with a healthy dose of suspicion!

People tell me I still lost the popular vote to a girl and got less votes than Mitt Romney, but that doesn’t matter. Right now I feel like the biggest winner ever! It’s a feeling I’ve only felt six times before, right before each of my bankruptcy filings.

I’d like to also thank the GOP, ALEC and the Koch Brothers for the multi-year investment you made in rigging the system to ensure the triumph of my will. Specifically, the passage of Citizens United, your unprecedented gerrymandering to ensure losing the popular vote wouldn’t cost Republicans control of the House in 2012 and, of course, the terrific new voter suppression laws that made all the difference this year in states from North Carolina to Wisconsin.

Finally, I’d like to thank all the voters who invested all of their hopes and dreams in me despite Little Marco’s warning I’m a con artist, Lying Ted’s claim I’m a pathological liar, and Speaker Ryan’s acknowledgment that I’m a textbook racist.

One of the hallmarks of the Trump brand is I’ve always been terrific at making people buy what I’m selling at least once. Usually, I make a big promise, collect the cash, and skip town as fast as possible. It worked with Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Ice, Trump Magazine, Tour de Trump and Trump University. I’m just happy to know that even scamming so many war widows, single moms and seniors out of thousands of dollars at a fake University wasn’t enough to stop so many of you from voting for me. And this time, you’re stuck with me for four whole years!

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Thirty years ago, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made a fateful decision: to allow newspapers, magazines, television, and radio stations to compete in the marketplace instead of being financed exclusively by the government. The political and social implications of that decision are still unfolding as the Chinese government, media, and public adapt to the new information environment. Edited by Susan Shirk, one of America’s leading experts on contemporary China, this collection of essays brings together a who’s who of experts-Chinese and American-writing about all aspects of the changing media landscape in China. In detailed case studies, the authors describe how the media is reshaping itself from a propaganda mouthpiece into an agent of watchdog journalism, how politicians are reacting to increased scrutiny from the media, and how television, newspapers, magazines, and Web-based news sites navigate the cross-currents between the open marketplace and the CCP censors. China has over 360 million Internet users, more than any other country, and an astounding 162 million bloggers. The growth of Internet access has dramatically increased the information available, the variety and timeliness of the news, and its national and international reach. But China is still far from having a free press. As of 2008, the international NGO Freedom House ranked China 181 worst out of 195 countries in terms of press restrictions, and Chinese journalists have been aptly described as dancing in shackles. The recent controversy over China’s censorship of Google highlights the CCP’s deep ambivalence toward information freedom. Covering everything from the rise of business media and online public opinion polling to environmental journalism and the effect of media on foreign policy, Changing Media, Changing China reveals how the most populous nation on the planet is reacting to demands for real news.

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Interactivity is one of the most captivating topics for today’s online community. It is a fast-growing field pushed by the rapid development and dispersion of Java, Shockwave, Flash, and QuickTime. While several good books are available about the interactive capabilities of Java, Shockwave, and Flash, until now there hasn’t been a book about QuickTime interactivity. A logical follow-up to QuickTime for the Web, this eagerly awaited book by Matthew Peterson details the power of QuickTime’s wired media technology and provides a resource for professionals developing and deploying interactive QuickTime content. This content can extend far beyond simple movies-it can act as application user interfaces, educational multimedia, scientific display panels, musical instruments, games and puzzles, etc, and can interact with you, your browser, a server, or with other movies*Describes concepts and techniques of interactivity applicable to technologies beyond QuickTime-including Flash. *Features real-world, hands-on projects of progressive sophistication allowing developers to start with a project appropriate to their own level of QuickTime experience*A companion CD-ROM contains the book’s source code, tutorials, and demo software, including a demo version of Live Stage Pro (with a discount offer for the full version).

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This ultimate guide to collecting and using graphic novels in a school library is written by an elementary librarian who uses graphic novels in her library media center for instruction and to advance pleasure reading. The book contains lesson plans linked to school curricula for all ages, plus a discussion of why graphic novels are useful with certain types of readers, particularly boys and reluctant readers. It features helpful information and lists for collection development-including reviews, reviewing sources, jobbers, Web sites and publisher contact information-and posits reasons to help the librarian defend the use of graphic novels with students.

A Trail Guide: Hiking and Backpacking by Karen Berger. Smart, instructive, and beautifully designed, every book in the Trailside Guide series contains the essential information readers need to master outdoor activities and have fun in the process. Norton proudly reissues these best-selling guides with fully revised “Sources & Resources” sections (including where to find the Web sites, gear, services, books, clubs, and organizations that make for foolproof outings); updates to reflect the latest in gear technology, wilderness medicine, and first aid; and advances in techniques. You can take it with you: Trailside Guides are designed to be used on the trail. Their handy size makes them easy to take along on outdoor adventures. Picture this: Trailside Guides show you how it’s done. Each book has more than 100 color photographs and dozens of informative, full-color technical illustrations you’ll refer to again and again.
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Exploring the forms and meanings of mediated politics beyond the news cycle, this book encompasses genres drawn from television, radio, the press and the internet, assessing their individual and collective contribution to contemporary political culture through textual analysis and thematic review.

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Grounded in ideas of embodiment – that our minds are largely shaped by our perceptual and bodily experiences – Animation, Embodiment and Digital Media discusses the latest interactive animated phenomena enabled by computing and related technologies. Analysed in terms of sensory perception, bodily action and cognitive processes, Kenny Chow formulates a new theoretical framework, exploring a corpus of digital designs including graphical user interfaces of the Macintosh OS X and iOS systems, interactive installations like Text Rain, and video games like the arcade classic Pong and more recently Angry Birds, the animated remake of the canonical Chinese painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival exhibited at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. These analyses simultaneously demonstrate how the proposed perspectives and principles inform possibilities for creating more immersive, affective, and evocative forms of digital designs.

The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts, 2nd Edition How to find , identify, and cook them!! An illustrated field guide to the most common edible wild plants, complete with recipes and folklore
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This book is the first of its kind to bring together a collection of critical scholarly work on consumer culture in South Africa, exploring the cultural, political, economic, and social aspects of consumption in post-Apartheid society.From sushi and Japanese diplomacy to Queen Sophie''s writhing gown, from middle class Sowetan golfers to an indebted working class citizenry, from wedding websites to wedding nostalgia, from the liberation of consuming to the low wage labour of selling, the chapters in this book demonstrate a variety of themes, showing that to start with consumption, rather than ending with it, allows for new insights into long-standing areas of social research. By mapping, exploring and theorizing the diverse aspects of consumption and consumer culture, the volume collectively works towards a fresh set of empirically rooted conceptual commentaries on the politics, economics, and social dynamics of modern South Africa. This effort, in turn, can serve as a foundation for thinking less parochially about neoliberal power and consumer culture.On a global scale, studying consumption in South Africa matters because in some ways the country serves as a microcosm for global patterns of income inequality, race-based economic oppression, and hopes for the material betterment of life. By exploring what consumption means on the ''local'' scale in South Africa, the possibility arises to trace new global links and dissonances. This book was originally published as a special issue ofCritical Arts.
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The social media Guru who said “Twitter should be used in moderation” could also probably stop at eating one Cheeto, or even open their eyes while sneezing. It’s a mindless addiction that screams “try and stop me!”.

Now, assuming you’re like most of us on Twitter, you live in a bunker, and manifest symptoms of mild autism and megalomania. You also have an abiding need to get something pointless and stupid off your chest.

So seriously, how do you start? Which key launches the nukes? It seems an endless salad bar without the spit guard. Somewhere you can come back for seconds, gloriously naked under that trench coat, and of course, wearing wet shoes.

THE GENE POOL COULD USE A DEEP END

Not to harsh your Twitter mellow, but what do you naturally aspire to? Ghost of soapy Tyler Durdan? Bikini Model spokesperson? Do you happily lick donuts? Well all you have to do is just close your eyes and click your heels, and take a shot of ether and get in touch with your weird side. It’s all waiting for you on the Internet’s wild wacked west.

You can be your own fantasy. The only thing limiting you are your limitations, and even that can snowball uphill on this thing.

HOW TO START

So for kicks, the first thing you do is follow some profoundly respected celebrity account, because by gosh, you’re both on Twitter and now practically related in an inbred way. You even feel kind of chummy, so you say ‘Hi’ to a Hilary or Katy or Kanye or Fitty, then wait for a response, and wait, all the while slipping deeper and deeper into Nyquil-tini haze.

The good news is you’re not alone — We all got our taste for Nyqil-tinis much the same way.

(At this point, most Twitter virgins experience Twitter fatigue, and must pop Twitter viagra. Just kidding, there is no Twitter viagra. Meth. We use meth).

THE SECRET TO LIFE IS KEEPING THE HOT FUDGE HOT

So now that you’ve been rebuffed, repulsed and repelled, any rational human, medicated or otherwise, would go for the pro-tip. Time to check in with the social media gurus. Y’know, the Swami guys with folded legs, sitting on mountain tops just typing on their laptops — right? Well, social media gurus are the Internet’s bottom feeders: they’ll just bite you on the butt, and feed on your bottom.

It’s the blind leading the blind into an open manhole. Bungee jumping into a burmese tiger trap. The Third base coach waving the runner into a snowblower.

I freely admit an unabashed lusting to become one of them. They’re like the High Priests of some primitive idolatrous cult. Hanging out on the deck of a Temple, just shooting the breeze after a hard day’s flinging sacrificial virgins into the volcano, and fertility rites. You just know you want into that action.

But let’s face it, Twitter is the dog run of social media. Land mines everywhere. You’re bound to step into a simmering pile of tweeting faux pas. Thankfully, with its attention span of a Jello shot, and collective memory loss, it’s always just like shaking the etch-a-sketch clean.

So it begs the question: Do you really need the social media guru sagacity and wisdom?

Here are some of my favorite rules not to follow very closely:

1. NEVER FOLLOW/FOLLOWBACK BLINDLY, IT HURTS YOUR BRAND

Because on Twitter, we aren’t people, we’re brands, and anything we post or do online affects the people following us. So be very careful not to give a sh**. Follow indiscriminately. Hit your daily following limit. Go directly to Twitter jail.

It’s a numbers game, and you only miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t drink. So bottoms up!

2.DON”T OBSESS OVER YOUR FOLLOWER COUNT

Seriously?

Your follower count is the dipstick of your relevancy — if you’re down a quart, you might as well leave it in the shop.

Again, Twitter is a numbers game — no one knows what’s really going on, so it’s the only indicator of your “eating at the cool table” factor. I can’t stress enough the importance of this, and it justifies its accomplishment by the most ruthless means possible. Attending Moabite fertility rites with stomach flu. Shipping off your in-firmed Eskimo grandparents on an ice floe as an amuse-bouche for polar bears. Promising you’ll call after a date and you don’t. It doesn’t matter. It’s for the greater good, your greater good.

And by the same token, if someone is not following you back after three days, unfollow them. If you have the time, block them. And if you have more time, also stick knitting needles into the ears and nostrils of their voodoo doll

Although personally, I start with the knitting needles on Day 2.

3. DIRECT MESSAGE:

OR:

TWITTER IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE DM’s

Whoa! Seriously? Never DM anyone! Never! Not even to poison control after Bill Cosby roofied you with radioactive Polonium 210.

Twitter is like self-medication for a broad spectrum of interesting characters, from the lithium-addled, insomniac vampires, to the bi-polar narcoleptic dominatrixes. No one wants to get a direct mail from a barnacle with suction cups, and a prescription for an electro-shock bite stick. The kind of stalkerish nut job who needs your opinion on what color thong is appropriate for an afternoon wedding. (Note to the style challenged: it’s all good).

Especially if you yourself have a nagging conscience. Blocking a Twitter crazy conjures up guilty visions of sugar plum fairies dancing on the subway platform, just before they jump. So avoid DMs as if it were the plague with bad breath.

3. DO FOLLOW PEOPLE YOU VALUE

OR:

MANY ARE CALLED, FEW ARE CHOSEN, AND EVEN LESS RSVP

Very few celebrities will send the elevator of success back down to the basement for us methane-breathing troglodytes. Unless they’re extraordinary human beings like Jim Gaffigan, who is quite literally the Dr. Albert Schweitzer of Comedians — just a kind, generous, giving human being and utterly hilarious — no wrong answers. But sadly, Jim can’t field everyone, so you have to blaze your own trail, while avoiding self-immolation like a Vietnamese Monk on a bender.

4. RETWEET REGULARLY

OR:

“WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO RAIN ON YOUR PARADE… PEE ON THEIRS

Again-Seriously?

There is no honor among thieves, and no respect between Twitterers. Trust me, you will inevitably be disappointed, and the “Block” button will seem so wussy and ineffectual, especially compared with what you really want to do to them. Instead of RTing, just hit the ‘I told You So’ button.

This is so high school, that is, if you graduated from John Wayne Gacy High with degree in clown costumes. It’s lousy with fond memories of anti-social non-reciprocation: The old: ‘I’ll scratch your back, and you excoriate mine with a raclette swivel’.

5. ALWAYS USE ORIGINAL CONTENT

OR

(to be continued)

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New – Asian Popular Culture: New, Hybrid, and Alternate Media, edited by John A. Lent and Lorna Fitzsimmons, is an interdisciplinary study of popular culture practices in Asia, including regional and national studies of Japan, China, South Korea, and Australia. The contributors explore the evolution and intersection of popular forms (gaming, manga, anime, film, music, fiction, YouTube videos) and explicate the changing cultural meanings of these media in historical and contemporary contexts. At

This one-of-a-kind guide to the future of marketing includes a step-by-step action plan for harnessing the power of the Internet, showing business owners how to identify audiences, create compelling messages, and lead those consumers into the buying process.

Twitter got stylish yesterday with users sharing quick bites of fashion advice. #3WordFashionAdvice was started by Comedy Central’s @Midnight, “home of the hashtag wars,” and per the show’s setup, they assigned a winner:

The 33-year-old reality star is set to speak to the Commonwealth Club next week to discuss her new book of selfies and her famous family, along with “the business of millennial culture, (and) the objectification of women in media.”

A spokeswoman for Kardashian describes the event as a book signing. Tickets for her June 30 appearance range from $ 40, up to $ 300 for the VIP Party Package.

A spokeswoman for the Commonwealth Club said Wednesday that the event was originally set to be held in Oakland, California, but it will probably be moved to San Francisco’s Castro Theatre.

The Commonwealth Club was founded in 1903. It bills itself as the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum, dedicated to impartial discussion of public issues.

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Overview Brimming with nostalgia, these colorful illustrations evoke the good life at elegant hotels and resorts from Monte Carlo to Pasadena and from Atlantic City to Bangkok. A treasury of nearly 280 lush graphics for commercial artists, designers, scrapbookers, and other hobbyists, these images will also appeal to people in the travel industry. Product details Isbn-13: 9780486996615, 978-0486996615 Author: Carol Belanger Grafton Publisher: Dover Publications Inc. Publication date: 2005-06-24 About Wordery Wordery is one of the UK’s largest online booksellers. With millions of satisfied customers who enjoy low prices on a huge range of books, we offer a reliable and trusted service and consistently receive excellent feedback. We offer a huge range of over 8 million books; bestsellers, children’s books, cheap paperbacks, baby books, special edition hardbacks and textbooks. All our books are dispatched from the UK. Wordery offers Free Delivery on all UK orders, and competitively priced international delivery. #HappyReading

ALERT: Before you purchase, check with your instructor or review your course syllabus to ensure that you select the correct ISBN. Several versions of Pearson''s MyLab & Mastering products exist for each title, including customized versions for individual schools, and registrations are not transferable. In addition, you may need a CourseID, provided by your instructor, to register for and use Pearson''s MyLab & Mastering products. Packages Access codes for Pearson''s MyLab & Mastering products may not be included when purchasing or renting from companies other than Pearson; check with the seller before completing your purchase. Used or rental books If you rent or purchase a used book with an access code, the access code may have been redeemed previously and you may have to purchase a new access code. Access codes Access codes that are purchased from sellers other than Pearson carry a higher risk of being either the wrong ISBN or a previously redeemed code. Check with the seller prior to purchase. — Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Writing for the Mass Media remains one of the clearest and most effective introductions to media writing on the market. This book offers clear writing, simple organization, abundant exercises, and precise examples that give readers information about media writing and opportunities to develop their skills as professional writers. With a focus on a converged style of media writing, and converting that style into real work, this eighth edition maintains its classic and effective text-workbook format while staying ahead of the curve and preparing professionals for their future careers.
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Enjoy your digital life! Easily share and access files, photos, videos, and music between all your computers, with friends and with family using the Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive. Powerful and fast, the three-step set-up is very simple, even if you ve never used a network drive before. Ideal for centrally storing and sharing all your media files, the Home Media Network Hard Drive has a built in UPnP AV Media Server (DLNA certified) and iTunes Server so that content can be easily shared between computers and any other digital media adapters such as game consoles, digital picture frames or networked TVs. Simple 1-click sharing automatically posts files to your Facebook , YouTube and Flickr accounts. A photo slideshow can be created instantly, for online sharing with friends and family updated by simply dropping files into an Active Folder. Remote access allows you to access your files securely from anywhere in the world via the internet. Torrent download allows you to take advantage of the new standard in file sharing, and other features allow you to share a printer and control which family members have access to certain folders. Automatically back up all your computers to the network drive with award winning EMC Retrospect Express backup software for PC and Mac (included), or virtually any backup application, including Time Machine . For extra protection, back up online with MozyHome Online Backup service – 2GB included free. Remote Access With remote access, you can connect to your pictures, videos, and files from anywhere in the world as though you were sitting right at your workstation or home computer! Enter a personalized web address into any browser, and you will be easily downloading and uploading your files securely. Administrators can easily change network hard drive settings, like adding users and folders from any web enabled device. The first year of remote access is free and it s only .95 per year after . Custom d

I met up with Pico Alexander at the Cafe at the Signature Theatre on the eve of his 24th birthday. He was taller than I expected with a thick head of hair that he hid under his fedora hat. Pico has a spiritual energy to him, with a look and demeanor that reminds me of a young Johnny Depp. When I make the comparison he smiles and blushes; “He was my favorite when I was a kid. I used to pause the dvd Edward Scissorhands because I was crying so much. I felt so bad for him! Like when he punctured the waterbed or tried to cut the steak. I love that guy. Thank you for saying that.” Sodas in hand, we sat down, with piano music playing in the background at the Cafe, and started chatting:

Where does the name Pico come from?
My grandfather started jokingly referring to me as Pico when my mom was pregnant with me. And then when I was born, they wanted to give me a serious name, so they named me Alexander. But nobody ever called me Alexander except for one teacher in sixth grade.

Growing up, you went to LaGuardia High School. What did you focus on?
I auditioned for music and for acting because that’s what my parents were breeding me to be. I played classical piano and trumpet for awhile. My mom has this fond memory of me getting into her car after the audition and saying ‘Mom, i’m going to be an actor’. But in reality I had been writing that in journals for years.

You are kind of a man of mystery. You aren’t very active on social media. You don’t use twitter or have an instagram account.
No social media for me.

Why’s that?
I think that I spent too much time comparing myself to other people and it didn’t seem very real anymore. All of a sudden you have more than a thousand friends and everybody is posting all the best things that happened to them. And it kind of unsettled me really. I started posting a status and waiting to get the likes. If I got the likes then I was validated as a human for that day and if I didn’t it was like “f***, nobody likes me”

Who is Pico?
I don’t know. I’m trying to figure that out. I’d be hesitant to give any sort of an answer because its always changing.

What would your friends say about you?
They would probably say I’m one of the most immature people they’ve ever met!

In what way?
I can be my share of selfish and uncompromising and loud and obnoxious and a bit of an asshole and definitely mean to my share of people. And not very empathetic. And these are the things that I’m working on now. It definitely took me awhile to realize that I’m not the center of the universe.

Did your off-Broadway show Punk Rock help in that way?
Sure, I think Punk Rock had an effect.

Let’s talk about What I Did Last Summer. Who do you play?
I play Ted. He’s a local boy, a Canadian. He can be a little bit of a rowdy influence and he’s a friend of Charlie, the protagonist. Charlie meets Anna Trumble who is a bit of an outcast and eccentric and she taps into his potential and tells him that he has a gift and he has to work on finding out what it is. She unlocks that for him and he goes and finds out there is more to life than what he originally thought.

Do you have a pre-show ritual?
We pretty much just lose it back there in the dressing room. It’s me, Noah Galvin, and Dan Weiner our drummer. We all share the dressing room, get hyped up, and listen to music.

I saw that you played a young Joe Carroll in FOX’s The Following. What was it like being on set?
The scene was a lot bigger beforehand. There was a fish in the scene and the character Doctor Strauss puts the fish on the table and its flopping around and the Doctor wants to illustrate to Joe that he’s enraptured by it. Which was super interesting because, by law, you are only allowed to take a fish out of water for 20 seconds at a time. So we had a dude standing by with a bucket who would constantly interrupt the scene and grab the fish and throw it in the bucket and take another fish and put it on the table.

I read online that you want to swim with sharks. Is that right?
Yeah, I’d love to swim with sharks! Sharknado. A bit of a metaphor for wanting to risk it all in a way.

What are some of your hobbies?
I’m writing a lot lately. And I’m very fascinated with my dreams. I’m taking a sober year this year. I had a crazy experience at the end of last year. I was away on a small island with my family and I swam in this bio-luminescent bay and thought – it’s not going to get any better than this – and on the spot decided to try a year of sobriety as a challenge. Because of that, my dreams are so vivid this year. So I want to really focus on that unconscious self this year and connect with that self and see what it is that I truly want.

Do you meditate?
I meditate a little bit. Not as much as I’d like to.

One question I ask everyone: What’s one thing you would tell your 15 year old self?
To slow down. Listen. Observe. Help people. Help them up not push them down. And to be honest. High school is a really tough time for everybody and we don’t really understand that at the time. Be honest about your fears and your shortcomings. And just be nice.

What do you like best about yourself?
That’s crazy. I never think about that. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in melancholy. I think I like my honesty. I’ll ask people questions that might be uncomfortable but will also put myself one hundred percent out there. I’d rather fail than be mediocre.

Is there anything that you want people to know about you?
No. He laughs. I’m always weary of putting anything in writing because it’s always changing. If I had to choose, I would want them to know that I’m loyal.

Do you have any favorite quotes?
I like the quote “It is written” from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Because it means it is what it is and everything is what it is and that’s ok.

For tickets to see Pico Alexander in What I Did Last Summer at the Signature Theatre now thru June 7th, click here.

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Everybody’s heard of the Salem Witch Trails of 1692-1693, right? If you haven’t, you need to get your ass to a library right ASAP. Many history teachers use the Salem Witch Trials to teach their students about the dangers of what can happen when mass hysteria takes over communities. Most of us think when hearing these stories: “this is crazy, it could never happen in modern day.” But, with social media keeping us more connected than ever and Americans getting offended at nearly everything they read — it’s almost as if we’ve forgotten the lessons our history teachers tried to instill in us as children because the Salem Witch Trails happen everyday on our computer, we just don’t realize it.

This past weekend, my Facebook page was sent into a tailspin when someone in Alabama saw a t-shirt with an upside-down American flag on it for sale at a PacSun outlet store. Torch carrying Americans took to social media to express their outrage. With a thirst for blood not yet quenched, (it was a slow Memorial Day news weekend) people took to social media to all-but-destroy PacSun, anyone who wore their clothing and anyone associated with the brand. It was a witch trial of a different sort. I like to call it: “#tshirtgate2015.” Let’s take a look:

Salem 1692: Two girls begin rolling around on the floor, seemingly possessed. When a doctor can’t figure out what’s wrong with them (there is no physical evidence of illness) he jumps to the logical conclusion that witches have been f-ing their shit up. Because…what else could it possibly be?

Modern Day: Someone shopping in an outlet store in Alabama (I could make a joke, but that one just wrote itself), sees a t-shirt with an upside flag on it for sale at a PacSun. This outrages said shopper. They take a picture of it and post it on social media, expressing said outrage. Because there is literally nothing else horrible going on in the world today (black kids getting shot by cops for no reason, global warming, world hunger — no time for that!) the image goes viral. PacSun is ruining America with their upside-down American flag shirt. [An upside down American flag is a signal for extreme danger of life or property.] How could PacSun do this on Memorial Day when we are supposed to be honoring our veterans by getting blackout drunk and having a BBQ? WTF PacSun? WTF, indeed.

Salem 1692: Word spreads that two girls have been overcome by the power of witchcraft and other girls in town begin to say that they have been having similar issues. Soon thereafter, several of the towns most undesirable women (beggars, non-churchgoers and women of rival families of the girls who were original possessed) are arrested for witchcraft.

Modern Day: Word spreads that PacSun is selling a t-shirt with an upside down flag on it via social media and others begin to say that they too are offended by said t-shirt. Soon thereafter, several of the worlds most prestigious media outlets begin covering the story because a t-shirt with an upside-down American flag on it is by far the most disgraceful thing that has ever happened (today) and someone must pay. Meanwhile, somewhere in California the creators of House of Cards are probably chilling being like: “Um, an upside-down American flag has been our shows logo for three years and no one has said word one about it. Way to pick and chose, guys.”

Salem 1692: The women convicted of witchcraft are arrested and tried before a court of law. They really don’t stand a chance because in 1692 America, you can be executed for witchcraft based on the hearsay of a group of teenager girls.

Modern Day: PacSun is put on the stand and the judge, jury and executioner is the general public. They really don’t stand a chance because in 2015 America, you can have your life ruined or entire business crumble based on a biased group of people with loud mouths and nothing better to do.

Salem 1692: Many of the women convicted say they love the Lord, would never dance with the devil and have never practiced witchcraft. It doesn’t matter as the court has little-to-no evidence to convict them, so being practical, they send them to their deaths. On the flip, several of the women convicted throw their hands in air, give up and say “fuck it, I’m a witch.” Thinking they’ll be exonerated if confessing to witchcraft, they lie and say they’re witches. Well played ladies, but it doesn’t work. They too, are executed.

Modern Day: PacSun is put in a difficult situation. Apparently everyone fighting this social media war is either a direct descendent of Betsy Ross, a veteran or American flag aficionado and will not relent. This upside-down flag situation is the worst thing that’s happened in American history. Possibly worse than 9-11. If they don’t apologize, they will look like assholes. But this is 2015 and you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Soon after #tshirtgate2015 starts, PacSun apologizes, basically saying, “we give up, we fucked up. Sorry, we’ll pull the shirt from stores.” But it’s not enough. It’s never enough. People are still pissed and call for an all-out boycott of PacSun. Why stop at accepting an apology when you can financially cripple a company and possibly put hundreds if not thousands of people who are just trying to make ends meet out of work? It’s not like you’ve ever done something wrong or made a mistake in real life and asked for forgiveness. Meanwhile, forget trying to put this amount of effort into fighting for equal pay for women — all affiliated with PacSun must pay.

Salem 1692: Mass hysteria reaches a fever pitch and the young girls begin claiming that everyone from infants to clergymen to the elderly are witches. Things have gotten out of hand then suddenly — it all stops. People cease claiming accusations of witchcraft and the townspeople return to their everyday affairs as if nothing happened.

Modern Day: Mass hysteria reaches a fever pitch. People are pissed. Social media statuses such as: “How un-American of Pac Sun!” “They should close all of their stores!” “I will never shop there again!” clutter Facebook and Twitter. Then suddenly — it all stops. People seemingly forget #tshirtgate2015 ever existed because the internet has made us all have the attention spans of five year-olds. However, instead of the good people of social media going back to their everyday affairs, they find something else “truly offensive” and begin complaining about that and the social media circle of life continues. Meanwhile, this is the most anyone has talked about PacSun since 1997, so hopefully their PR department can spin this to their benefit.

Guys, we simply cannot be outraged about inconsequential things on a day-to-day basis. It makes us no better than the two teenage girls who cried “witchcraft” because they wanted attention back in 1692. If everything we see and hear is deemed offensive, we are not only disrupting freedom of speech, we all also have some serious rage problems we need to deal with. Perhaps if we could channel that rage into something productive like fixing the environment, figuring out what to do with California before they run out of water or a better way to handle veteran affairs (everyone was crying “what about the vets?” when this whole t-shirt debacle was going down — how about not treating them like shit when they return from defending our country? They would probably appreciate that more than crying over a t-shirt) we could be in better shape as a country. Or, we could just find something a celebrity said, take it out of context and completely ruin their career. Really, either works.

I apologize in advance for any witches who were offended in the creation of this article.

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In 2014, the National Sleep Foundation found that most 15- to 17-year-olds routinely get seven hours or fewer hours of sleep, which is a good two hours less sleep than they need for a healthy life. The foundation also found that sleep quality was better among children who turned their digital devices off before bedtime than those who took their devices to bed. It would thus seem that there is a connection between screen time and sleep. Is this connection somatic (purely physical), psychosomatic (caused by the mind) or just mass hysteria brought about by digital ubiquity?

At a very basic level, time on a gadget during bedtime is time not spent in sleep; 6- to 10-year-old children with three technology types in their bedroom achieved 45 minutes less sleep than those without. It is only logical to believe that older children, with their more active social life, would spend more time on gadgets than the surveyed pre-tweens. Delayed bedtime or truncated total sleep time caused by “time displacement” by technology and media items in an adolescent’s bedroom has been reported to result in sleep deprivation, sleep-onset latency (SOL), sleep difficulties, night-time awakenings, and parasomnias.

Time displacement is augmented by biochemical effects of screen time as well. Adolescence is already associated with circadian (sleep) phase alterations, which along with social demands (early school timings etc.), can cause sleep deprivation. It is well-known that light also affects the circadian rhythm. Light suppresses melatonin, the sleep-promoting hormone, and recent studies have found that backlight from gadgets (particularly tablets set to full brightness) can cause statistically significant melatonin suppression after just two hours of exposure. The dose, exposure duration, timing and wavelength of light play important roles in sleep patterns. Suppression of melatonin secretion and alterations of sleep rhythms are more sensitive to short-wavelength light (blue) than mid- (green) or long-wavelength (red) light especially at at the brightness at which gadgets typically work.

No correlation study can be complete without awareness of possible pitfalls of association. For example, the observed connection between sleep deprivation and technology use may not point to a causal impact of screen time on sleep outcomes. There is a high possibility that the reverse is true because youth who need less sleep or have sleeping disorders may spend more time with technology, either as a coping mechanism or just to pass time. Another possible source of error in such correlation studies is that they are largely based on self-reported or parental reported data of screen exposure and the outcome variables. Such reports could be highly opinionated and are often not validated against an objective standard. Teenagers, for example, can overestimate or underestimate their total sleep time/problems vis-a-vis screen time due to ignorance, peer pressure and even denial. Measurement errors and inconsistencies could also lead to faulty associations.

Like breathing, eating and drinking, sleeping is a life-sustaining activity, and anything that adversely affects it must be dealt with before damage becomes irreversible. However, it is regressive to believe that technology itself must be ousted because of sleep problems, much like advocating that breathing is dangerous because of air pollution. Logical moderation is the key to living. There is clearly a dose-response relationship between screen time and sleep and a threshold for screen-based recreation. For example, the risk of sleep problems was found to increase two-fold in adolescent girls engaging in screen-based activities for four or more hours per day. So, is four hours the magic number? Can the limit be generalized for an entire population? Obviously not. The threshold must eventually be set by every individual based on their own nature and needs.

Co-authored by Lakshmi, a Mobicip blogger who is just as passionately opinionated about the juxtaposition of technology, parenting, and education. Mobicip is a provider of powerful parental controls for the Apple iPad and other mobile internet connected devices.

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GPS for the Soul – The Huffington Post
Special News Bulletin-http://www.acrx.org -As millions of Americans strive to deal with the economic downturn,loss of jobs,foreclosures,high cost of gas,and the rising cost of prescription drug cost. Charles Myrick ,the President of American Consultants Rx, announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project which consist of millions of free discount prescription cards being donated to thousands of not for profits,hospitals,schools,churches,etc. in an effort to assist the uninsured,under insured,and seniors deal with the high cost of prescription drugs.-American Consultants Rx -Pharmacy Discount Network News

Elizabeth Gilbert readily admits that just a few years ago, she deliberately avoided using platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Like many others initially do, the Eat, Pray, Loveauthor viewed social media as a vortex she simply didn’t want to get pulled into or caught up in. So, she always resisted it.

“I was very ‘anti-social media’ because I thought it was just going to be a giant time suck and a big energy waster,” Gilbert explains.

Fast-forward to the present day, however, and she’s got quite a different perspective. In fact, when Oprah asks the author about the first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning, Gilbert gives an answer than even she wouldn’t have expected two years ago.

Gilbert’s first foray into social media began when she reluctantly joined Facebook. That’s when she experienced a profound shift. “I’m like, ‘Why did I wait so long to do this?'” she says.

What Gilbert found when she began using social media is that there is an engaged community of people with whom she can interact, talk to and learn from.

“The first thing I do every morning is I go to my Facebook page,” she says. “I engage in conversation with the women who showed up there that day. I answer their questions… and I ask questions. I say, ‘What are we going to do today, you guys? What are we going to work on? Here’s what I’m working on.’ Or, I’ll say, ‘I’m stuck. What do you guys do when you’re stuck like this?’ I begin a conversation that then goes on for the next 24 hours.”

It may not seem like a spiritual act on the surface, but Gilbert explains that the daily ritual of engaging in open conversation truly feeds her soul.

“There’s so much grace and love and community in that,” she marvels. “It’s communion.”

As a writer, Gilbert adds that social media gives her another outlet through which she can exercise — and evolve — her craft.

“I’ve expanded that definition [of my vocation]. It used to just be writing novels, writing books. But now, it’s also about writing things to people on Facebook, using words to try to get closer to the truth and the goodness and the glory,” she says. “That’s what I look forward to every day.”

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GPS for the Soul – The Huffington Post
Special News Bulletin-http://www.acrx.org -As millions of Americans strive to deal with the economic downturn,loss of jobs,foreclosures,high cost of gas,and the rising cost of prescription drug cost. Charles Myrick ,the President of American Consultants Rx, announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project which consist of millions of free discount prescription cards being donated to thousands of not for profits,hospitals,schools,churches,etc. in an effort to assist the uninsured,under insured,and seniors deal with the high cost of prescription drugs.-American Consultants Rx -Pharmacy Discount Network News

Collectively known as Hallyu, Korean music, television programs, films, online games, and comics enjoy global popularity, thanks to new communication technologies. In recent years, Korean popular culture has also become the subject of academic inquiry. Whereas the Hallyu’s impact on Korea’s national image and domestic economy, as well as on transnational cultural flows, have received much scholarly attention, there has been little discussion of the role of social media in Hallyu’s propagation. Contributors to Hallyu 2.0: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social Media explore the ways in which Korean popular cultural products are shared by audiences around the globe; how they generate new fans, markets, and consumers through social media networks; and how scholars can analyze, interpret, and envision the future of this unprecedented cultural phenomenon”

This study explores the broad influence of computers and television on the evolution of the American legal process. The author asserts that the electronic media have an increasingly powerful impact on all facets of American law – its methods, values and societal role.

The industry standard for 30 years-updated to include the newest developments in digitization and the three screens of video Apply the latest advertising technologies Build your brand in every medium Create the right budget for each campaign Through six previous editions, Advertising Media Planning has proven essential to the success of both practicing and aspiring media planners. Now in its seventh edition, it continues to provide valuable insight into the construction of media plans that most effectively achieve marketing objectives. Advertising Media Planning, seventh edition, retains all the critical information you need to know about traditional media-including TV, radio, and print-while exploring the latest media forms, illustrated with major advertiser case histories. You’ll find comprehensive coverage of the latest media planning and digital technologies, including: Organic and sponsored Google search Digital out-of-home video Internet banners Computerized media channel planning Cell phone mobile-media DVR’s impact on TV commercial viewing New online and traditional media measurement technologies Interactive television Cross-media planning Data fusion International competitive spending analysis This is an exciting time for media planners. Those with the most creativity, strategic insight, and knowledge of the market are sure to find the greatest rewards. Providing firm grounding on the fundamentals and bringing you up to speed on the latest developments in digitization, this updated classic is the best and most complete companion available for navigating the new frontier of media planning.

Nightcrawler is about a freelance news videographer who hunts down the most graphic shots of mangled bodies and still-warm blood he can find, and then sells them to local television news. He becomes quite good at his craft and makes lots of money. And if that was all it was all it was about, it would be a compelling condemnation of our current media culture.

But it’s about much more than that. And as such, it is far more compelling and far scarier.

When the videographer in question, Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), repositions a dead body in the aftermath of a traffic accident in order to create a better shot, it might seem inhuman. But there’s really nothing new there. Haskell Wexler did something very similar 45 years ago in Medium Cool, a movie which is in fact primarily concerned with the role of the media in modern America, and which should be much better-known than it is in 2014. Several years later, the Sidney Lumet/Paddy Chayefsky collaboration Network provided the definitive satire on the subject. I think first-time director Dan Gilroy is aiming at a broader and more insidious modern problem in Nightcrawler.

The most terrifying moments in Nightcrawler do not involve Louis staging crime scenes or manipulating information to benefit his film clips. The brazenness he shows in ducking under police tape to get closer to the scene is de rigueur in the paparazzi era. It is when he talks about his ambition, his carefully-considered business plan, his savvy branding strategies, that Louis is at his scariest. And that is where Nightcrawler moves beyond the mostly-effective satire on modern media and becomes a sharp condemnation of 21st-century corporate mentality.

I had a feeling something was off in Gilroy’s message about the media as I watched Louis interacting with TV news producer Nina Romina (Rene Russo). If Gilroy wanted to say something specifically about the way “news” has been commodified in 2014, a smart guy like Louis would not be going to a third-rate local network affiliate. That’s so 1980s — back when local network affiliates mattered. Today, they have become so marginalized that most media outlets would jettison them in a heartbeat if the FCC would allow it. If this were about media, at the very least, Louis would be going to cable news programs which have been making good coin by engaging in the fear-mongering that Nina champions. And he’d more likely be seeking out online tabloids — especially sites like TMZ or Radar that may want to move their celebrity-based reportage into general suburban blood and mayhem.

I was also confused while watching as to the effectiveness of the other main figure in the movie, Riz Ahmed’s Rick. Rick is a very weak character. Gilroy gives him the briefest of backstories. He is young and homeless and ethnic, and desperately needs the job which Louis offers. He speaks up for himself in a halting voice but is generally overwhelmed by the hurricane that is Louis. In all their scenes together, Louis is the driving force. Rick’s role is almost entirely reactive. When he does attempt to stand up for himself, Louis has no trouble putting him down. As I watched, it seemed clear to me that Gilroy was far more interested in Louis and Nina, and even in rival nightcrawler Joe Loder (Bill Paxton), with whom Louis may or may not partner. Upon reflection, I’ve come to believe that Gilroy essentially abandoned the character of Rick on purpose, because it serves as a good metaphor for his larger message.

So if Nightcrawler is not, at its core, a condemnation of the current condition of news media, what is that larger message? Gilroy’s movie is about a society that has become unmoored, a society in which traditional economic and moral structures no longer function. Corporations may have always been greedy, but in Nightcrawler those corporations don’t even exist. They are not present to offer a pension or health care or a set of guiding principles. It is crucial that Louis is a freelancer. He has taken the place of the corporation. This shouldn’t be surprising. After all, corporations are treated as individuals today. The Supreme Court said so. Why shouldn’t individuals turn into corporations as well? Corporations with no accountability beyond individualistic morality. No checks or balances. Louis essentially can do whatever he wants. Nina tries at times to rein him in. Rick raises tepid moral objections. Late in the story, law enforcement tries to intervene. None of these entities make a dent, and in Nightcrawler, there are no other regulators to be found.

Louis, as he says twice in the movie, is a very quick learner. He is disciplined and motivated. And he has a computer. He applies the lessons he learns through his online research. He takes business classes. He gathers facts and figures pertinent to his career. He speaks the language of entrepreneurship very well. He negotiates in a very straightforward and aggressive manner. He counsels Rick on ethics and cautions him not to sully his reputation in the business world. He is often refreshingly honest and direct. Until such time as it no longer benefits him. Then he commits various acts, usually hovering just around the threshold of criminal activity, without the slightest regard for anything beyond his own self-interest. That is the message of Nightcrawler. There have always been ambitious “go-getters” like Louis Bloom. But today they have more power at their disposal, and less regulation of their actions, than ever before. They have a reach that extends far beyond your local network news.

I didn’t think so much about Medium Cool or even Network while watching Louis Bloom at work. Those movies are more genuinely about media. I was reminded more of movies from that earlier era that featured very sharp outsiders who used modern technology to foster their careers: Lonesome Rhodes, the monstrous media personality played by Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd (1957) and J. Pierpont Finch, the ambitious young ladder-climber played both on stage and screen by Robert Morse in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (film version, 1967). Both are as unscrupulous as Louis Bloom, though they represent opposite ends of the personality spectrum. Lonesome is brutal and coarse, arguably more cruel than Louis. Finch (or Ponty, as he is called), is a pussycat. His role is primarily comic, and though he has the “bold brave spring of the tiger that quickens his walk,” he is ultimately a good guy. In the version of America that produced Lonesome and Ponty, a monster like Lonesome could be stopped and defeated, while an ambitious nice guy like Ponty could learn a couple of lessons and be rewarded. Louis Bloom is their 21st-century progeny: an evil bastard who, upon learning a few lessons, cannot be stopped.

And what of the poor abandoned Rick? Whereas Louis and Nina are members of the old school American immigrant class, classes which have long-established identities as Americans (and not as Jewish-Americans or Italian-Americans), Rick is the newer ethnically-diverse immigrant. I think the decision to give Rick minimal backstory was deliberate. Rick is essentially fodder. His employer sells him on the traditional American dream, but has no intention of allowing the dream to come true. When corporate self-interest is at stake, people like Rick have no standing. But Louis? If you listen closely, you can almost hear Louis singing “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.”Arts – The Huffington Post
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With a music career that began when she was just 15 years old, singer and actress Brandy has been in the spotlight for two decades. Being a star on the rise can be difficult to navigate for any teen, but Brandy believes that today’s young stars have it much harder than she ever did. The reason? Social media.

In the above web exclusive from Brandy’s “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” interview, she explains the challenge of living in a world that is so socially connected.

“Oh my God… the opinions are so in-your-face,” she says. “I feel for the young artists today because people can just type them anything that they want to say and [be] negative, you know?”

Had social media been around during Brandy’s teen years, she doubts she would have been able to handle her naysayers having such direct access to her. “I don’t think I would have made it in this generation,” she admits. “I don’t think I had… that strength that you need to really have a sense of self.”

She may now be an industry veteran, but Brandy admits that she still struggles reading harsh comments as an adult.